They were assigning them .edu addresses. Their complaint was more about the school requiring them to use email (e.g. to get updates from classes, registration, etc).

I'm not saying all those who complained did not have email - likely many/most did. They didn't like being required to use it. However, there were quite a few who claimed they had never used email. I suspect that they likely had, but only for a few formal things (university applications, etc) - something they used perhaps once every few months. They probably didn't like the idea they'd have to check their emails so frequently.